(Reuters) – China’s military sent several fighter jets and an early warning aircraft on patrol into disputed air space over the EastChina Sea on Thursday, the Chinese state news agency Xinhua reported, quoting a spokesman for the People’s Liberation Army Air Force. The move raises the stakes in a standoff with the United States,Japan and South Korea over the zone. Japan and South Korea sent their own military aircraft through the air space on Thursday. The Chinese patrol mission was “a defensive measure and in line with international common practices,” said Shen Jinke, a spokesman for China’s air force, in the Xinhua…

Six men have been arrested by officers from the National Crime Agency investigating alleged match fixing in English football. At least three footballers are reported to be among those held across the country, but the BBC understands that none is linked to professional clubs. Sources have said the suspects include ex-Premier League player Delroy Facey. The NCA said the focus of the operation was a suspected international illegal betting syndicate. Continue reading the main story How it works Dan RoanBBC chief sports correspondent International, invariably Asian, betting syndicates dispatch a fixer to search out semi-professional, non-league players in the lower…

(Reuters) – Macy’s Inc and a slew of other U.S. retailers are opening on Thanksgiving for the first time ever in a bare-knuckled brawl for a bigger slice of overall holiday sales. But it might not be so easy to lure most Americans from their turkey and football – particularly if the weather is foul. Department store rivals Kohl’s Corp and J.C. Penney Co Inc led a string of Thanksgiving opening announcements after Macy’s said it would open its U.S. stores on the popular holiday, ending a 155-year tradition. Sales trends, survey results and an online “Save Thanksgiving” backlash suggest…

Police in Arizona say three sisters were held captive in filthy conditions for up to two years by their mother and stepfather in the city of Tucson. Investigators say two of the girls, aged 12 and 13, escaped and alerted a neighbour after their stepfather tried to attack them with a knife. Officers then found a 17-year-old locked in her bedroom. The girls were malnourished and dirty and told the police they had not taken a bath in up to six months. “They were kept in filthy living conditions separately and told patrol officers that they had not seen each…

Sitting beneath about four feet of garbage in an area of a Welsh landfill the size of a football field sits a fortune — in the form of a computer hard drive that James Howells threw out this summer while cleaning up his workspace. On it: the cryptographic “private key” he needs to access 7,500 Bitcoins. And since the digital currency hit a major milestone yesterday, with a single coin now worth more than $1,000 on the most popular exchange, that tossed hard drive is worth more than $7.5 million. Unfortunately, Howells doesn’t have a firm sense of when he…